Astros pitcher Jose Urquidy is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 4.
The Houston Astros win 8-1 to even the best-of-seven series with the Washington Nationals at two games apiece.
Urquidy struck out four over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks.
Urquidy earned 2.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 377th among all players and 93rd among AL pitchers. It was his third appearance this postseason and his first postseason Player of the Game honor.
In a series in which some of the era’s greatest starting pitchers have already appeared, Urquidy, a 24-year-old who has appeared in just 11 regular season games, is the first starting pitcher to earn Player of the Game honors in this World Series. Failing to earn Player of the Game honors this World Series have been Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke of the Astros and Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin of the Nationals, all six of whom ranked among the top 15 overall players in Box-Toppers points in 2019. Verlander, Greinke and Scherzer rank among the top 10 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Corbin, who started Game 4 for the Nationals, had a Box-Toppers game score of -6.0 (6IP 7H 4R 2BB 5K L). Corbin had 16.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 12th overall and sixth among NL pitchers.
Third baseman Alex Bregman had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Astros batters of +4.0 (GS 3-5 R 5BI).
The series resumes with Game 5 Sunday in Washington.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Top Astros in World Series Game 4: Astros 8, Nationals 1
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Astros who played in World Series Game 4, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Jose Urquidy.| 10/26 | BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | +7.0 | Jose Urquidy (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| +4.0 | Alex Bregman 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.1 | Brad Peacock | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | Chris Devenski | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| +0.2 | Will Harris (H, 6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0.0 | Michael Brantley LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Kyle Tucker PH | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Josh James P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Will Harris P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Hector Rondon P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Brad Peacock P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Chris Devenski P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Carlos Correa SS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Yordan Alvarez PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.8 | Hector Rondon | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| ‑2.0 | Robinson Chirinos C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Jose Altuve 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Jake Marisnick CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Yuli Gurriel 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Jose Urquidy P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.9 | Josh James | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| ‑3.0 | George Springer RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
POG—Player of the Game
World Series Game 5, Astros at Nationals, series tied, 2-2
Sunday’s starting pitchers:
Astros—Gerrit Cole, 32.2 Box-Toppers points, first among all players, first among American League pitchers.
Cole has earned Player of the Game honors in three of his four postseason starts—in the AL Division Series Game 2 win over the Rays on Oct. 5, in the Game 5 win on Oct. 10 and in the AL Championship Game 3 win over the Yankees on Oct. 15. He also appeared in the World Series Game 1 loss to the Nationals on Oct. 22.
Nationals—Joe Ross, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 255th among all players, 79th among NL pitchers.
Max Scherzer was scheduled to start but was a late scratch Sunday with neck and back issues. Ross represents a significant drop off from Scherzer, who had 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2019, 15th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers and third among Nationals pitchers.
Ross has one 2019 postseason appearance—in the World Series Game 3 loss to the Astros on Oct. 25.
Scherzer by contrast has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice in five postseason appearances—in the NL Division Series Game 4 win against the Dodgers on Oct. 7 and in the NLCS Game 2 win against the Cardinals on Oct. 12. He also started in the NL Wild Card Game against the Brewers, pitched in relief in NLDS Game 2 against the Dodgers and started in the World Series Game 1 win over the Astros on Oct. 22.
Related:
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview